Will Maha give cash reward to detect new TB patients?

The Uttar Pradesh government will soon launch a door-to-door drive to detect fresh tuberculosis cases and has also decided to give a cash reward of Rs 450 to the team involved in the door to door campaign for identifying each tuberculosis (TB) patients

Uttar Pradesh government has decided to give cash reward of Rs 450 for identifying each TB patient.

The Maharashtra officials say that such kind of initiative will also be beneficial in the state if implemented.

The team members will collect sputum of the suspected cases at their homes and will give the samples to the laboratory. The team will get award of Rs 450, if the test confirms that a patient has TB. Each team will have three members; the reward money will be equally distributed.

Maharashtra state has already started the third phase of active TB detection campaign. Since the launch of Revised National TB Control Program, the state is giving incentives to ASHA workers, private doctors and DOT service providers, for detecting new TB cases. But the state is not giving any extra incentives for the team which is detecting new TB cases in the state.

Dr Sanjeev Kambale, Joint Director, State Leprosy and TB, Pune, said, “This is very good initiative of UP government. It will also benefit us if we start its implementation. We are already giving incentives to ASHA workers and private doctors if they detect new cases. This step has benefited us in detecting more number of cases.”

Government sources revealed that annually, as many as one million TB cases go unreported across India. This happens as people are either not aware of the disease or not inclined to seek treatment. Last year, from a total of 3,586 patients living with TB in Pune, at least 2,782 were newly-detected cases and 634 were newly-detected TB cases in Pimpri-Chinchwad.